Clams

This is a dedicated place for all of your questions and answers about Raw Diets. There are also some really cool groups like "Raw Fed" on the topic you can join. This forum is for people who already know they like the raw diet or sincerely want to learn more. Please remember that you are receiving advice from peers and not professionals. If you have specific health-related questions about your dog's diet, please contact your vet!

Clams are fine, but I haven't fed any yet. Like the comment above, some persuasion may be in order (Terra took some shrimp from me one day, and just sat there with it in her mouth for 20 min before she put it down. She eventually ate it, but it took her a while to figure it out). As to the shells, I personally wouldn't feed them. To me, they remind me of the crunchy consistency of glass... it's just a lot different than bone.

My dog tries to pick up clams off the beach all the time. I decided to give him one (cooked) from my dinner tonight, in the shell, and he loves it. He's spending a lot of time trying to pull the part that sticks in the shell off, and keeps licking the shell. I don't let him have the ones off the beach, but I'll definitely do this again (give him a cooked one). He's really happy!

Clams are one of those things that dogs can eat, but there's really no purpose to it. It's not a natural food source for them, they aren't getting any huge benefits out of it, and they're generally difficult to obtain and prepare and after all that, a lot of dogs don't like them. Just not really worth the effort, although I will toss my guys a strip or belly if I'm eating them.

They should not be eating shells. That can seriously damage their digestive tract. They really don't break down well at all. I lived and worked by the ocean for years and I've seen Labs in particular get IBD eating shells off the beach. They can also cause obstructions.

BE CaREful! Some dogs like people have seafood allergies. Never let them have clam shells or oyster, mussel shell. No shell is good for dogs although they can digest shrimp shells, it generally isn't a good idea to let them have them as they have a barb at tail that can give them problems. Also all shellfish should be cooked for dogs and people!